Introspective the sequel...pt.19

I don't own DB/Z/GT or its characters, etc.

Introspective...the sequel Part 19

The next few months passed quickly as Pan's pregnancy continued. Trunks was pushed to his limits between running the company and making sure his wife had everything she needed. The final trimester had forced Pan to spend most her time sitting or in bed. The developing youngins within her sapped most of her energy. Luckily for them, their families were there to assist. Soon, however, the inevitable rolled around, perhaps sooner than anticipated.

"Capsule Corporation Headquarters,President's Office. may I help you?" Trunks' secretary asked as she picked up the phone.

"I need to speak with President Trunks please?"

"He's in a meeting at this time. May I take a message?"

"Get him out of the meeting! This is urgent! I'm his wife and I'm in labor!"

Trunks' secretary hesitated a moment. "Could you verify your identity please?"

"Say what!?"

"Look, you may very well be his wife, but for security reasons, I need you to verify your identity. This has happened before."

*Happened before? Trunks, you have some stories to tell me when this ordeal is over* Pan thought before returning ot her conversation. She tried to remain as calm and composed as a woman in labor for the first time could be. She was afterall, going to assume the co-presidency after their child's infant years.

"Okay lady, what do you need?" *I'm going to shoot Trunks for having his cell phone off and making me go through all this, but I'll let him see his child born first.*

"Last four digits of the president's ID number?"

"Is that all? 1569."

"Thank you. And the voice id matches his wife's. Stay on the line, I'll patch you through to the conference room."

"You had a voice-match...err, nevermind, just put me through please." Pan growled as she heard the clicks of phone switchover.

"Pan? Is that you?"

"What, your secretary didn't say who it was?"

"No. Just that it was urgent."

"Great security system Trunks."

"Eh?"

"Nevermind. Look, I think I'm having contractions and going into labor. You coming along?"

Pan heard the phone drop to the ground on the other end. She waited. Eventually, Trunks picked the phone back up.

"YOU'RE WHAT!?"

"Is your sensitive saiyan hearing going?"

"N-no, of course not, but I could've sworn you just said something that isn't supposed to happen for another month!"

"Guess they want out NOW. Definitely saiyan. They're showing impatience already."

"Crap. Okay, uh, you home?"

"If I wasn't I would've had my mom or dad drive me...or your mom."

"Fine. Gimme a minute. Don't do anything. Just stay put. Please?"

"What am I going to do? Try to fly and bounce off cars everytime a contraction comes alongor one of 'em kicks the hell out of me?"

"I wouldn't put it past you. Now hang up. I'm on my way."

Pan heard the click on the other end as she returned her own phone to its stand. *Okay Trunks, I bet you're going to panic, go super saiyan, and nearly kill yourself flying over here.*

back at Capsule Corp...

"Look, I have an emergency to deal with. Either run this meeting without me or adjourn until uhh...when I next schedule it." Trunks said to the occupants of the room before bolting out. He ran up the stairs rather than wait for the elevator, informed his secretary that he was leaving and that she was to cancel all appointments, meetings,etc. scheduled.

"But sir, for how long?"

"I don't know. I think my wife's going into labor early. I'll call and inform you of the situation as soon as I know more." And with that, Trunks opened his office window, powered up, and blasted away. Sure the thought of going super saiyan occurred to him, but he was maturing with age (or was it experience?). The last time he did that, he smacked into a building when he overcompensated for the speed it generated. So, he just flew as fast as his regular-self would enable him.

He was home within three minutes, his air commute shaving a full fifteen minutes off the usual limo commute. He burst into the home and found Pan laying on the livingroom sofa.

"Let's go."

"Trunks?"

"What?"

"I think it was a false alarm."

"A what?"

"I thought they were contractions but maybe it was just a combination of indigestion and the babies getting squirmy. The pain seems to be fading now."

"Don't you know the difference?"

"It's not like I've done this before!"

"Sorry. It's just, ah well, nevermind. Look, let's just get to the hospital anyway, just to make sure all is well."

"You worry too much Trunks."

"You drive me to it Pan."

Suddenly Pan shrieked as another pain came along. Trunks tried to calm her, but remembered Gohan's stern warning about a woman in pain. He kept his distance and tried to verbally calm her.

"Pan, breathe. Those are contractions. I don't need to be female to know that. I'll get your things ready. Just stay there and uh...try to relax." *oh that probably wasn't the right thing to say* Trunks thought before deciding that a course of action was best for him.

"RELAX!!! TRUNKS, YOU---!!!"

Trunks didn't hear the rest, he dashed up the stairs before she finished. He could hear two pillows smack the wall behind him. *That was close. I really need to watch what I say. What I think seems right comes out wrong.*

Upon reaching the room, he grabbed the little orange card his mother had given him. It was an emergency response list for just this occasion. She knew he wouldn't remember if it wasn't right in front of his face so she was kind enough to create a list for her son.

*Let's see... two night's worth of stuff. Hmm...aww man, most of this is already supplied isn't it? I mean blankets and stuff are provided aren't they? I know, I'll just fly back here after they're born. That way I'll know exactly what's needed and what's not.* Trunks thought with a smirk as he dashed back down the stairs.

"Pan, let's go."

"Where's my bag?"

"I'll pack it later."

"Trunks!"

"What? The hospital provides much of what's on this list. I don't want to bring a whole bunch of stuff that we'll just have to lug home after. Besides, think optimistically, if this goes smoothly, you'll only be there overnight"

"Goes smoothly? Trunks your mother averaged ten hours of labor, my mother, nine with me, and my grandma, ten to eleven with my dad and Uncle Goten. This is NOT going to be a quick and easy."

"We can always hope."

"Like how you said being 'careful' during our honeymoon so we could have a kid later in our marriage? And now we're having more than one at the SAME TIME!"

"Hey, we're saiyan. How was I supposed to know th--"

"Nevermind. I'm right and you know it.So there's no need to debate. Let's just go."

Trunks nodded and carefully picked up his wife and carried her out to the car. Before he could reach it, Pan had another contraction. In pain, she grabbed flesh.

Trunks howled in pain and dropped to one knee. He was aware that he still had his wife in his arms, but he was having trouble focusing. He wanted to pass out.

The contraction ended soon enough as Pan released her hold on Trunks' shoulder and arm. But Trunks' pain continued. Ignoring it, he placed her in the car before checking the damage. Pulling his shirt down, he realized that there was severe bruising.

Stepping into the car, he tried to rub his injured shoulder.

"I'm sorry Trunks, I didn't expect..."

"Don't worry about it. Luckily it's not dislocated. You just gave me a reason to not have to train for a few days."

Trunks actually managed to reach the hospital without getting into an accident though he probably had his sports car's quick handling and acceleration to thank for that. At the hospital, the car squeeled to a halt in front of the emergency room. Trunks stepped out, grabbed the first employee he could find and demanded assistance. It worked. Pan was quickly retrieved and wheeled off to the delivery rooms.

Luckily for Trunks, Pan had also called her doctor right after calling him. Her doc met her in the room then looked about for the soon-to-be daddy.

Trunks had gone to park his car so an ambulance could use the spot he had taken, then got lost in the hospital. Using his nose, he found the cafeteria and tried to navigate from there, but ended up in a circle. Frustrated, he cornered two off duty doctors and forced them to guide him to the delivery rooms.

"You've finally arrived sir. Here, put this on. It's time to add to your family." Pan's doctor calmly told the now panting Trunks.

"Shit, wait!" Trunks said as something suddenly dawned on him. He looked about then found what he was searching for. He quickly grabbed the phone and called home.

"Briefs residence. Bra here, may I help you?"

"Bra, get mom on the phone quick!"

"Say please?"

"NOW!"

"Geesh, give me a earache why don't you. Hang on. MOOOOMMMM, PHONE! HURRY!"

Bulma rushed to the phone.

"Mom?"

"Trunks?"

"Pan's in labor. We're at the hospital. Get here fast?"

"Just do what the doc says. I'll get there as soon as I can."

"Thanks, bye." Trunks said as he hung up the phone, put the hospital gown on and followed the doc into the delivery room.

Pan was working up a sweat as the little babies within her grew restless and wanted out.

Trunks tried to comfort her, but had no idea how to do so. He had no frame of reference as to how it felt to be going through what she was at this time.

As another contraction hit, she grabbed his arm.

"EEEEIIIIAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH PAN!" Trunks howled as he heard a bone snap.

She let go once her contraction had passed. "Trunks? Where'd you go?"

Trunks was on the floor holding his arm. Some nurses were attending to him. They assisted him out of the room and to the emergency room to have the bone set.

"And that's why we encourage fathers to stand behind the yellow line." the doctor muttered to nobody in particular as he attended to Pan.

"Hey, where are you takin' my husband? He needs to be here."

"Pan, relax. He'll be back. You just broke his arm."

"I did? Ohmigosh. Trunks!"

"Just focus on this Pan. Trunks will be fine, but we need to focus on bringing these new lives into the world, okay?"

Pan nodded. "But I want somebody here."

The doc nodded then asked a nurse to check the waiting room.

"Is there anyone with the Briefs party here?"

Bulma, Videl, and Gohan all stood. Vegeta was off to the side wall in his usual stance.

The nurse waved the two ladies in. Gohan wanted to join, but the nurse refused.

Upon robing and entering, Videl quickly went to her daughter's side while Bulma looked about.

"Where's my little boy?"

"Oh, you mean the father?"

"Yes, where's Trunks."

"In the emergency room getting his arm set. He was a victim of one of Pan's contractions. He should be back shortly."

In the emergency room...

"Geez, how many needles are you going to stick me with lady? I broke my arm, not volunteered for to be some pin cushion!"

"Relax Mr. Briefs. The less you struggle, the faster this will be completed so you can return to your wife."

*Relax!? Now I know how Pan feels when I say that to her.* "C'mon, hurry up. Just tape it or something. I'll deal with it later. I need to be in there."

"Keep running your mouth and we'll tape that instead." a stern, burly head nurse replied as she came in to assist her two young assistants. She knew Trunks' type and wasn't about to let him deny himself the medical attention his arm needed.

Trunks looked at the lady and could've sworn she looked like the mother of the kids Goten and he had defeated back in a tournament when they were kids. This frightened him somewhat. He decided to obey her, besides his other arm was sporting the sore shoulder. This meant he had no good arm to swing anyway. But, he wasn't going to allow her to win gracefully.

"Look lady, do you know who I am?"

"Mr. Trunks Vegeta Briefs, President/CEO of Capsule Corporation. So?"

"So, I can afford treatment whenever I please, even if it means rebreaking the arm to set it. Now let me return to my wife."

"How about I shoot a sedative in your ass instead? That is a compound fracture. The longer you leave it as such, the more danger you face. Your body will register it as trauma and you'll go into shock, pass out, and possibly end up comatose. Will that help your wife?"

Trunks knew she was right. He liked to study medical books to spruce up his genius intellect. He said nothing and allowed them to continue their poking and prodding. Eventually his arm was set in a cast. As the nurse placed it into a sling and attempted to rest it on his opposite shoulder Trunks yelped.

"Now that was different. Perhaps we should look here too?" the nurse commented as she removed the sling and pryed his shirt open far enough to expose the shoulder. His shoulder revealed some solid, deep bruises from Pan's earlier grab of his body.

"Well, I guess I know who has the upper hand in this union." the nurse commented dryly as she applied some soothing gel to the shoulder. After, she encouraged him to enter a wheelchair. Naturally, Trunks wasn't going to have any part of it.

"It was my arm and shoulder injured NOT my legs. I am perfectly capable of walking."

"There's that mouth again. Now I know why your wife pelts you so."

Trunks said nothing. He simply stode off as pridefully as he could. He wanted away from that nasty nurse. But, he lost his way once again. "Damn this hospital. Thing's too big for its own good and what's with these signs anyway?" Trunks muttered as he stood in a hallway and stared at the arrows. "To hell with it, I'll do this MY way." Trunks said as he found the nearest door, exited the hospital and took flight. From the air he could re-orient himself. He remembered what he could see from the window in Pan's room. Within seconds he found her room and knocked on the window.

"Trunks!" Pan said between breaths.

The doctor and his assistants stared in shock at the guy hovering in mid-air at the window. Trunks gave them the "v" sign with his fingers and smiled before finding the nearest door and entered. He burst into Pan's room in no time at all.

Bulma immediately ran up to her son and inspected him completely while he blushed.

"Mom, please, I'm fine now."

"Good then perhaps I can educate you on something."

"???"

"See those yellow lines?" Bulma replied as she pointed to the floor.

Trunks nodded.

"Know what they're for?"

"???"

"They're for daddy's-to-be like you who might not be smart enough to keep their distance when their wife is in labor."

"Well excuse me mom. It's not like I've done this before." Trunks sarcastically replied.

Videl and Bulma laughed. Trunks just glared at them then opted to pretend they weren't there as he turned his attention to his wife. The doctor urged to two woman out since the father was now present once again.

Many, many hours later...

"YYYAAAAAAHHHHOOOOOOOOOO!" Trunks triumphantly hooted as he burst out of the delivery room and into the waiting room. He then did something of a dance that resembled an endzone dance for a touchdown in football, ran a lap around the hospital then returned. "Who's da man! I got three! Take that! I reign supreme!"

Gohan, Vegeta, and the others stared dumbly at him and waited for the next phase to hit the jubilant new father...namely, the reality check.

Trunks suddenly ceased his celebrating. "Crap, I have three. Oh shit." Trunks said as he suddenly felt faint and plunked down in a chair.

Vegeta was the first to approach him. "What are they boy?"

Trunks smirked and decided to say what the doctor once said to him. "They're babies."

This of course irritated the elder saiyan. "I KNOW that stupid boy. Are they saiyan or human in appearance?"

Trunks had to think about it a moment. He remember three breaths, ten fingers and toes on each, two penises, one without, and...yes, three tails. "They all have tails." he said softly.

Vegeta smirked with pride. That's all he wanted to know. "Good to see some saiyan come out of you afterall." he said as he turned and departed.

Bulma quickly took over where her mate had left off. "What are they?"

"Not you too. Didn't I just say that they're babies?"

"No, what sex are they?"

Trunks went back to his recollection. Three breaths, ten fingers and toes on each, two penises, one without...
"Two boys, one girl. All fraternal. None of them look alike. All healthy though despite being a month early.They're even normal weight. Had Pan carried them full term there would've likely been complications."

Gohan rushed forward. "How's my little girl?"

"Exhausted. She fell asleep within minutes after birth of the last one. That's why I'm out here too. I got shooed out so she could sleep."

Before the others could question the new father, a nurse asked if they'd all like to meet near the nursery to view the new additions to the Briefs family. Anxious, all stampeded after the nurse aside from Trunks and Vegeta. In a very unVegeta like fashion, Vegeta coaxed his son up.

"Let's go see these new brats of yours." he said softly as they followed the rest towards the nursery.

Once there, all were cooing and awwwing at the windows as the nurses displayed the three. The little girl wailed and howled. She bore Pan's hair color and Trunks' eyes. The larger, pudgier boy was quiet. He looked very much like his father when he was a baby complete with same hair color, but dark eyes like his mother. He showed an already prominent widow's peak like grandpa Vegeta as well. The other boy was already full of smiles. He displayed bright, deep blue eyes and black hair like his sister. He was a ham for attention.

Trunks was congratulated once again. He and Pan had done well. Their coupling produced three adorable new additions of saiyans. But this was only the beginning for the new family. It was one thing for Pan and Trunks to be a couple, but could they handle being parents?

tbc in the last chapter/conclusion to this rather lengthy fic series.